in short the alternator on our van started making funny noises and then seized up. So I'm going to buy a new one but there seems to be a variety of options 45AMP, 65AMP & 90AMP. I've taken the alternator off our van but there are no visible signs of what AMP it is. Does anyone know which one I should go for? Our van is a 1988 watercooled 1.9 petrol automatic (originally a minibus).
Oldiebut goodie wrote:Except the capacity of the output cables currently fitted.
Good point. But - given that we're talking about a petrol - it's only the cable between alternator and starter that'd need to be upgraded even if it wasn't beefy enough (and I'd think it would be), since the starter will be rated to pull far more than that.
in short the alternator on our van started making funny noises and then seized up. So I'm going to buy a new one but there seems to be a variety of options 45AMP, 65AMP & 90AMP. I've taken the alternator off our van but there are no visible signs of what AMP it is. Does anyone know which one I should go for? Our van is a 1988 watercooled 1.9 petrol automatic (originally a minibus).
Thanks in advance for any help
Mark
take it to your local alternator/starter, repair/refurbish shop.
it cost me £25 to refurbish mine...whatever it amp it was
Oldiebut goodie wrote:Except the capacity of the output cables currently fitted.
Good point. But - given that we're talking about a petrol - it's only the cable between alternator and starter that'd need to be upgraded even if it wasn't beefy enough (and I'd think it would be), since the starter will be rated to pull far more than that.
But the starter doesn't pull power along that alternator wire - it would only do so if the alternator was running which means that the engine is running which means that the starter would not be needed! That wire only goes to the starter as a convenient point en route to the battery.
Oldiebut goodie wrote:Except the capacity of the output cables currently fitted.
Good point. But - given that we're talking about a petrol - it's only the cable between alternator and starter that'd need to be upgraded even if it wasn't beefy enough (and I'd think it would be), since the starter will be rated to pull far more than that.
But the starter doesn't pull power along that alternator wire - it would only do so if the alternator was running which means that the engine is running which means that the starter would not be needed! That wire only goes to the starter as a convenient point en route to the battery.
Absolutely. But the cable still needs to be up to 200A or more between starter and battery.
From memory: Alternators came as 45ah & 65ah (push on connector block) plus later 65ah & 90ah with 8mm positive post (fitted with an 8mm nut and eyelet connector on the main fat cable) .
So from this you will at least be able to determine early/late and two possible outputs.
The most common is the 65ah
later buses (campers and higher spec vehicles) with more electrical ancillaries came with the 90ah.
Pink label was 90ah
Blue 65ah?
Green 45ah? .. something like that.
We don't have any special electrical equipment to run (no leisure battery or fridge or anything) so went for the 65AMP option as it looked pretty much exactly the same. Although the wheel had a longer arm on it, so I had to swap it with the wheel on my old alternator (otherwise the belt wouldn't have been straight). But anyway it's fitted now and is all working fine.
